Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of 1) Tacitus, Annales XI-XVI. 2) Tacitus, Historiae I-V. Possibly written for Alfonso II, Duke of Calabria, King of Naples
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by two scribes; Scribe 1) ff. 1r-126r in a neat, slightly rounded gothic bookhand; Scribe 2) ff. 126v-218v, in a neat humanistic bookhand., Full border, f. 1r, attributed to Nicola Rapicano: white vine, infilled blue, red, and green, with white dots; framed and divided into panels by thin gold bands, the inner frame with a second band in two shades of purple, with white highlights. Outer and lower margins divided by band of fruit, in the outer margin, black with gold highlights, in the lower margin, red with green and gold highlights; divided into sections and at corners by English frets, infilled blue or green with white dots. In center of outer margin, a medallion after a classical coin or cameo, bust of a man in profile with a laurel wreath against a blue ground with fine white filigree; in center of lower margin, coat of arms of Alfonso II, Duke of Calabria, King of Naples (quarterly, first and fourth paly of 4 or and gules [Aragon], second and third argent, a cross potent sable [Calabria]), in a gold and purple quatrilobe frame, a gold diadem above, against a blue ground, as above, supported by four putti. Putti, birds (including a large peacock, center of inner margin), insects, and a bowl of fruit, symmetrically arranged in corners and around swags, often overlapping or passing behind decorative elements. Both inner and outer frame broken by text and marginalia, suggesting that the border is a later addition. Two lines of gold capitals open the text on f. 1r. On f. 136v, a 5-line white vine initial, gold, infilled red, green, and blue, against a blue ground, of inferior execution compared to f. 1r. Two 3-line initials, ff. 25v and 40v, gold or blue with purple or red penwork; each with guide-letters for illuminator., and Binding: Between 1890 and 1900, or 20th century. Dark brown goatskin, blind-tooled with rope work interspersed with copper colored dots in Italian style (15th century) by Leon Gruel (active under his own name between 1891 and 1923).
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Rome
Subject (Name):
Alfonso II, King of Naples, 1448-1495. and Tacitus, Cornelius.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History
BEIN 2017 +313: Capital spaces with manuscript guide-letters. Capitals supplied in red or blue. Some Latin manuscript marginal notes. Contempory note on author and his times on front flyleaf., BEIN 2017 +313: Provenance: 1. Antonio Pillone, 2. Odorico Pillone, 3. Venetian dealer Paolo Maresio Bazolle purchased from the Pillone family in 1874 and sold to 4. Sir Thomas Brooke (armorial bookplate) sold by his heirs in 1957 to 5. Pierre Berès (Bookplate: Libro no [in manuscript: 58] de la Bibliothèque Pillone, Pierre Berès). Acquired by the Beinecke Library from Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller Inc., BEIN 2017 +313: Binding: Contemporary Italian goatskin over wooden boards, blind-tooled by Belluno binder A (see Hobson tools 3, 7 and 10), 7 (of 10) bosses, 2 clasps and catches, vellum endleaves. Title lettered in ink on upper cover "iulii [cor.tacitus] agricolae vita." Fore-edge painting by Cesare Vecellio of Tacitus with his name abbreviated at bottom: COR T. See Hobson, A. "Pillone library." in Book collector, v. 7 (1958), 28-37., BEIN Zi +5838 Copy 1: Book-plate of Augustus Frederick, duke of Sussex. A few manuscript notes in margins. Ff. 160 (c.sig.y10, blank), 175-176 (c.sigs.&⁷⁻⁸, &8 blank) and 188 (c.sig.B6, blank) wanting; the text of f. 175a has been supplied in manuscript on a sheet of paper pasted at the bottom of f. 174b. Slightly water-stained., BEIN Zi +5838 Copy 2: Book-plate with the letters B and O in center. From the library of Dean Clarence W. Mendell. 27 cm. Ff. 1, 160 (c.sig.y10, blank), 176 (c.sig.&8, blank) and 188 (c.sig.B6, blank) wanting. Water-stained, worm-holes in the beginning; f. 2 mended. Old polished calf binding, stamped in gold., Ff. 160 (c.sig.y10), 175 b (c.sig.&7), 176 (c.sig.&8), 187b (c.sig.B5) and 188 (c.sig.B6) blank., The second, third, and fourth sheets of quire a are signed a¹⁻³, the rest of the quire being unsigned., Capital spaces blank., and Hain gives no imprint or date; Proctor leaved the book undated; Copinger and Voullième (in the Bonn catalogue) ascribe the printing to Christophorus Valdarfer, between 1475 and 1480, but in the Berlin Catalogue Voullième names Zarotus as printer and omits the date; Castan and Brunet date the book between 1475 and 1480, but name no printer; Collijn dates the book at about 1490; The Brit. museum cat. dates the book about 1487.
Manuscript on parchment (thin, good quality) of 1) Tacitus, Annales XI-XVI. 2) Tacitus, Historiae I-V. Written for King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458-90), perhaps by Italians at his palace of Buda
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in a well formed humanistic script., Twelve initials, 7- to 2-line, at beginning of each book (2 at the beginning of the Annales), gold edged in black, with white vine ornament, against a panelled ground of blue, green and mauve, with white dots, outlined with one or two thin white and one black line; ivy, drawn or pen, with triangular gold leaves or dots, projecting from corners into margins. On f. 1r, the initial includes a putto in the vinework; in the lower margin, coat of arms of Corvinus, type A (quarterly, first and fourth barry of 8 gules and argent [Hungary]; second and third gules, a lion rampant and queue-fourche argent [Bohemia]; an inescutcheon azur with raven sable holding an annulet or, with bordure or [Hunyadi family]. Workmanship of fair quality; style Northern Italian (?)., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Sewn on three tawed, slit straps laid in channels in beech boards. The straps are pegged and the channels filled in with plaster as are the endband grooves and the edge channels cut out for the clasps. The primary endband is plain, wound, and sewn on a tawed core and the secondary is beaded and colored. The core is laid in a groove and pegged. The square spine is given a slightly round shape by the bevelling of the boards and is lined with a tawed skin. Covered in dark, brick-red goatskin with a cusped shield azur, charged with a crow sable (Hunyadi family), in the center of each board; blind-tooled rope work, punch dots and other ornamentation gilt, gold-tooled or painted. "Cornelius Tacitus" is tooled along the head of the lower cover and is also written down the fore-edge with black ink. There are four fastenings, the brass catches on the lower board, with three of them covered over with added leather. The clasps are the same color as the cover and are reinforced with parchment. They are pegged in channels at the edges of the board, underneath the cover. The clasps and a little leather of the spine and the upper board are wanting.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Rome
Subject (Name):
Matthias I, King of Hungary, 1443-1490. and Tacitus, Cornelius.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History
